I Promise
by WolverinesDarlin
Summary: Nick and Ro' get left behind, I guess 'Nobody gets left behind' doesn't have meaning anymore.
1. Chapter 1

_Had this idea… again when I was playing Swamp Fever with my other brother; I was Ro' and he was Coach. Haha, and for the record I do not ONLY play Swamp Fever… it just happens to be when all the dramatic Nick stuff happens… hee…. So I hope you enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own L4D or any of the characters._

_AN: This is a Nick and Ro' romance all the way._

**LEFT4DEAD**

"C'mon, c'mon!" Rochelle said, patching up Nick; a Tank well on its way over. "C'mon!" She said, her fumbling hands not wrapping the gauze properly. "There! I got it."

"Great, now I'm back!" Nick said, continuing to fight at the never ending zombie horde.

Rochelle turned around, nodding her approval that Nick was indeed alright. Rochelle turned back to the table that was set outside of the large house and moaned when she saw only one more First Aid left.

She grabbed it hurriedly and wondered if she should use it on herself and grab the defib she had dropped earlier to help Nick. She was interrupted when Ellis screamed out in pain.

"Ellis!" She screamed and ran towards the young man's scream. Only to find she was too late, running top speed towards his body she examined him as she ran but to find Ellis was pummeled to the ground by the tank. His eyes were still opened wide in fear, his young and innocent face forever frozen in horror and pain.

Rochelle gasped as she slowed her speed trying to stop when a Tank came from the bushes beside her and threw her across the yard and against the bushes; the impact knocking the wind out of her and definitely taking a toll on her ribs.

Rochelle screamed.

"The boat is here! Quick get on!" Coach screamed from the docks.

"On my way!" Nick yelled in return, firing his pistols into a zombie group behind him, running away towards the boat himself.

Rochelle grabbed at her AK-47 that she had dropped in her fall and fired at the Tank that was attacking her. She looked towards the docks, she had a clear view of both Coach and Nick on the docks.

"Go! Just go!" She screamed, gaining her footing and running in the opposite direction of the docks, hopefully taking the Tank away from her friends and the boat. She ran past Ellis dead and limp body, and gagged at the sight of his swollen face and twisted limbs; but kept running, firing her AK behind her as the Tank followed in close pursuit.

Rochelle screamed as his oversized fist collided with her back and sent her flying again, stumbling in the grass, one more hit and she was down for the count and then it was all over.

**LEFT4DEAD  
**

Nick jumped into the boat with Coach. "Where's Rochelle?" He questioned the large man.

"I don't see her…"

"What do you mean you don't see her!" Nick turned around and looked over the plantation grounds.

He saw the Tank and added two and two. "She's not gonna make it on her own!" Nick said and jumped back out.

"Nick stop!" Coach yelled but Nick paid no mind and ran towards the Tank.

"Hey!" Nick shouted so the Tank could hear him. Rochelle was struggling to keep her gun aimed or even stand.

Nick fired at the Tank with his SPAS. "Nick no! Just go…" Rochelle screamed, also shooting at the Tank.

"The hell I am." Nick shouted over the fire and the Tanks rampage. "Get to the boat, and wait for me." Nick ordered her.

"No I won't leave you to this alone!" She screamed also, continuing her onslaught of bullets.

Nick huffed and then yelled out in surprise and frustration when a group of zombies came up behind him and pulled at his arms and neck. He turned to face them and shoved them back shooting at each of them.

When he turned back around he was met with the Tank. "Aww shi-" He was cut short by the fist colliding with his chest.

Nick fell to the ground with a thud, the Tank chasing after him, he looked to where he'd last seen Rochelle to find she was being attacked continuously by several common infected.

_Damn it_ he cursed. He reached for his gun but couldn't quite reach from his position. He crawled the rest of the way and grabbed it flipping onto his back and sitting up a little he continued firing at the nearing Tank.

"Come and get it!" He cried, shooting shot after shot. Nick watched it stumble and fall to the ground, sliding to stop.

Nick sighed and laid down flat on his back his head falling against the mud, breathing in deep, relieved. He stared at the blue sky before looking to his side to his left. "Ellis" he breathed looking at the body of the young mechanic. "Damn." He closed his eyes against the morbid sight of his young friend.

Rochelle's scream brought him back to his feet running to her and the group firing at each of them; she was laying near the wall that surrounded the large house, trying to sit up to get a better aim and the infected.

He stood in the middle of the group, standing over top Rochelle, protecting her. He shot at any zombie that tried to come to close to her lower half. She shot at any that neared her upper half.

Nick reached down, when there seemed to be a break in the horde, and bent to bring her back up.

"Look out!" Rochelle screamed, mere moments before Nick was pounced on by a Jockey, leading him away from Rochelle.

"No!" He yelled out, trying his hardest to resist the Jockey's influence. To Nicks joy the Special Infected's ride did not last long, as Nick fell to the ground, no longer even able to hold himself up.

Nick pulled out his side arm and shot at the Jockey and killed it, followed by any remaining infected that were coming after him.

Nick heard the boat rev and pull away. Coach with it. Nick cursed and looked to where he'd last seen Ro' and winced. She wasn't fighting anymore, and the zombies had dispersed. He pinched his eyes closed and shook his head, trying to shake the grogginess.

Nick cursed and tried to stand up, but fell back to the ground; too weak. Nick grunted and dragged himself to Rochelle's still body, ignoring the darkness that was threatening to take him.

"Ro'… Rochelle." He whispered shaking her gently. He put two fingers on her neck, she had a pulse and she was breathing. "Thank god." He said quietly before he succumbed to the beckoning darkness.

**LEFT4DEAD**

Rochelle moaned. She felt something stabbing into her back and gasped; she rolled over a little and reached her hand underneath and grabbed at a small rock that had been grinding into her lower back.

"Damn rock." She muttered and threw the offending piece of earth away from her and laid back down on the cold damp ground.

Rochelle was sore all over, everything hurt and she was tired as hell. She tried to think of what had happened and why she was sleeping outside.

She remembered fixing Nick up while he shot at the oncoming horde. She had turned to help Ellis too but he was already dead. She felt a lump in her throat at remembering seeing Ellis dead body.

Rochelle sobbed but cursed when it jostled her battered body too much, instead she continued to go through the recent events, clearing her fogged up memory.

The boat had arrived, Coach and Nick had left but she got stuck with a Tank. Nick had come back though…

Nick had come back….

"Nick!" She shouted and shot up, ignoring the pain that shot up her entire body.

All around her were bodies of dead infected. She gagged at the amount of blood that covered them all, and the grey matter that was splattered over the half wall in front of her.

She wanted to get away from it all, she turned to get up, half rolling to her right side when she saw a white suit with a body in it laying on his stomach next to her. "Nick!"

Rochelle got on her hands and knees facing him before rolling him over onto his back. "Nick?"

Rochelle placed her ear over his chest, listening for a heart beat or feel him breathing; he was.

"Thank god… Nick? Nick can you hear me? Wake up..."

Nick moaned and tried to push her away at first but after a moment his eyes fluttered open.

"Oh thank you…" She sighed, relieved.

"Ro'?" He squinted, his eyes studying her face.

"Yeah…" She nodded her head, affirming.

"Are you okay?"

Rochelle half laughed half sobbed. "Yeah… yeah, I'm okay." She nodded her head again. "Are you okay?" She stroked the side of his face gently.

Nick nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm alright Sweetheart."

Rochelle closed her eyes, they were both okay. _And alone… _a voice said somewhere in her head.

"Where's Coach?" She asked, looking around for yet another body of someone she cared for.

"He's gone." Nick growled.

"Gone? What happened to him?" Rochelle asked, afraid of the answer.

"Gone as in left… not gone as in dead. He left…." Nick tried to sit up and groaned and started to fall back when Rochelle caught him and held him in a sitting position, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder for support.

"He left us?" Rochelle asked, hurt.

"I guess he figured us dead…" Nick shrugged a little. "Damn this hurts." He said through gritted teeth.

Rochelle sighed, her chest was killing her from so many hits from the Tank and other infected.

"We have to get away from here…" She started but was interrupted by the sound of another group of zombies, their moans filling the silent air.

"Damn it…" She said under her breath.

"We should get inside the house…" Nick suggested, trying again to stand.

Rochelle helped him up while at the same time using him for support to stand herself.

"Not a bad idea…" She said once they were both standing, however unsteady.

The two limped inside, both of them using each other for support. The house was still cleared from when the four of them had come in. She closed the door to a 'secure' room; it didn't have any holes in the floors or walls and the windows were still intact. She lowered him onto the single twin bed before moving a book shelf in front of the door a bookself over the single window. Rochelle moved to the end of the bed, sitting next to his outstretched legs and brought her own legs up to her chest rather than letting them dangle over the edge.

Rochelle sighed, "I can't believe he left us…"

"We all would have done the same thing…" Nick said quietly, leaning against the pillows, closing his eyes.

"You didn't." She said quietly.

Nick continued to lie on the bed but opened his eyes and stared at her. She was staring at the wall opposite them, tears glistening down her bloody and dusty face. Her hair was out of the bun, and was matted around her face with blood and sweat.

Nick started to sit up, pain shooting up his battered chest but ignored it, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat next to her.

Rochelle bent her head down and laid her forehead on her arms, successfully hiding her face and tears.

Nick drew his already thin lips into a thinner line as he watched the small woman cry for the first time. She looked so much smaller now from being in a ball, she looked like a child who was getting put in time out for stealing her mom's cookie.

Rochelle sniffed and brought Nick out of his little reverie; he slowly brought his hand to her back and rested it there, rubbing his hand up and down her back. "We're gonna be alright, Rochelle."

"Nick… he left us. Ellis is DEAD… we're alone Nick." Rochelle shook her head still not looking at him.

Nick winced at her tone when she spoke about Ellis. "He left us…" Rochelle just couldn't believe their friend would leave them like that; dead or not.

"But that's NOT what I'M gonna do." Nick said determined to make her feel safe again, seeing her like this was as if he was looking at Ellis without his hat, it just didn't look right.

Rochelle brought her head up and looked at him. "Promise?" She asked timidly. Mentally she smacked herself for sounding like such a child, but she had lost two of her friends in just one hour; though a voice in her head stared to wonder if maybe one of the two wasn't really a friend at all.

Nick nodded slowly, afraid of promising her something he couldn't really keep. "Yeah I promise, Rochelle. I promise I won't leave you."

Rochelle wiped on her tears before moving slowly to him and wrapping her small arms gently around his neck.

Nick stiffened at first both from expecting pain that never came and from not being used to such a gentle gesture. Soon after he relaxed and wrapped his own arms around her waist just as gently.

"We're together, we're not alone because we still have each other." He said quietly in her ear and stroked her back.

**LEFT4DEAD**


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: You all know the rest._

**LEFT4DEAD**

Rochelle opened her eyes and smiled when she felt Nick's warm body next to her. Her head was resting on his chest with her arm draped over. His left arm under her neck and his right hand draped over her waist.

She felt something under her again, _I just can't catch a break can I? _Rochelle was careful not to move to quickly as to not wake up Nick but reached under herself again, searching for the offending object that was messing with her happy wake up.

She closed her fingers around the object and her eyes widened with realization and pulled it out faster.

She held the medkit out and sat up. She had forgotten about it with all that had happened.

She had grabbed it when she had heard Ellis scream… leaving a defib behind, which gave her an idea.

"Nick! Nick wake up." Rochelle shook his thigh.

"Mmmm Rochelle…."

"Nick wake up, I'm serious."

"So am I. Go back to bed." He ordered.

"I have somethin' for you." She tried to bribe.

Nick grunted but didn't move to get up or even crack his eyes.

"Nick I have a freaking medpack and there is a defib outside…" Rochelle told him what she had found.

"You what and there a what outside?" Nick opened his eyes and sat up as well.

"Exactly." She pressed the kit into his hands. "Now use it. I'm gonna get this bookself outta the way." Rochelle ordered him.

"Wait there's only two problems with that plan."

Rochelle scrunched up her face and in her head thought through her plan, there was only two ideas to her plan in the first place.

"One, YOU are using this and two, I'M moving the self."

Rochelle huffed and moved to the bookself that stood in front of the door. "Nope."

Once the self was out of the way she turned back to him, he still hadn't moved to heal himself. "Use it or I'll do it for you."

Nick glared at her, Rochelle glared back. Nick was used to playing games, so she would play with him. But this was one game she wasn't about to let the conman win.

After some time Nick gave in. "Fine, help me out."

Rochelle was wary for a moment, wondering if he was planning something but gave in. And he actually did let her heal him.

"That's better." Nick sighed in relief.

"Good now let's go get Ellis." Rochelle turned to the door, down the stairs, and outside.

Nick headed down the stairs after her just in time to see Rochelle double over and puke. "Ro'!" He ran up next to her, watching as her stomach emptied its contents.

"It smells." She said pathetically, and that it did. Instead of nice fresh air that she had been expecting it smelled of rotting flesh, blood and gun powder. All around the yard were dead bodies and blood stains all over the grass, walls, and pavement. It was everywhere.

Nick nodded his agreement and started walking towards the limp body of their young friend and picked him up gently, his arms under Ellis' head and his knees.

Rochelle scooped down and grabbed the defib holding it in both of her hands, watching as Nick brought Ellis over to her.

He moved past her and to the table that was still standing next to the half wall in front of the house. He gently laid Ellis down on the table before moving away and allowing her to use the defib on him.

"C'mon… c'mon please work." She mumbled as she charged and pressed the paddles on his chest.

Ellis body jerk with the charge but didn't bring in a breath. "No…" Nick said under his breath.

"Ellis c'mon!" Rochelle recharged it and tried again, his body jerked and he breathed in a ragged breath gasping and flailing.

"Ellis honey you're safe now." Rochelle cooed and brought him into a sitting position, holding him as he collected himself.

"Ro'?" he rasped, holding onto her for dear life.

"Yeah hon, it's me."

Nick walked up beside her and faced Ellis, "Thought we lost ya kid."

Ellis smiled weakly. "Not yet…" He breathed and rested his head on Rochelle's shoulder.

"Let's get him back inside." Nick said quietly. Rochelle nodded her agreement.

"Can you walk?" Nick asked the mechanic.

Ellis nodded and swung in legs over the table and allowed the two of them to find his ground and walked him in; Rochelle leading with Ellis' arm around her shoulder, Nick following in behind.

Nick looked around the room as Rochelle and Ellis made their way up and something red caught his eye.

"Oh god please." He didn't believe in god but as of right now god was as real as this infection to him. He moved into the room, the kitchen, and pleaded that the red was a medkit and not some rag.

He walked up to the counter and almost whooped with happiness. He grabbed it and ran upstairs only to freeze when he heard a charger moan, gunshots, Rochelle scream, and then more gunshots.

He stared up the stairs to the room that was at the top on the left. "No." He denied what he had heard and flew up the stairs.

He looked into the room, and what he saw made him drop the medkit that was supposed to fix everything.

Rochelle was on the floor with; Ellis was next to her by her head, a pistol being held in his hand limply. A dead Charger lay dead in the corner on the room.

"Nick…" ellis looked to him desperately from next to the dying woman.

Nick slowly bent down to take the medkit back and walked to Rochelle's side where he bent down and looked her up and down.

Rochelle looked away from Ellis to him and flashed him a weak and forced smile, when she tried to talk blood spilled from her lips.

"Oh Rochelle…" Nick mumbled, ripping the kit open and trying to heal her.

"Save it." She said.

"You need this…" Nick said stubbornly.

"It's too late…"

"No." His eyes flashed to her face from the rest of her body, her chest in particular; it was completely crushed. "No don't say that." He heard Ellis sniff from beside them.

Rochelle smiled again, this time genuine.

"Damn it Rochelle, I told you to use the damn medkit on yourself." Nick scolded her for being stubborn and making him use it when he didn't even need it.

"You needed it more." She said softly, completely sincere.

"Damn it." Nick cursed as he still tried to heal her.

"Stop, there's nothing…" She choked up more blood, Nick wiped it away from her lips as she continued. "you can do…" She finished finally.

"Rochelle…" Nick said softly stroking the side of her young and beautiful face.

"You promised Nick…" She closed her eyes and her voice got even quieter, "you promised."

"I know Ro'. And I won't leave you. I'm here 'till the end." He said, finally giving up on saving her and just held her hand close to his chest and stroked her matted hair. "I'm never leaving you."

Rochelle nodded her head slightly and sighed one last time and did not take another breath.

"Ro'…?" Ellis squeaked. Staring at her face just as Nick was, waiting for her to open her eyes and laugh about it. But she would never do that.

The two of them sat in silence, staring at the still and almost peaceful face of their friend. After some time Ellis cleared his throat of the lump that had taken residence there and spoke.

"Nick… Nick Ah'm so sorry."

Nick stared at Rochelle a moment longer before facing the young man. "It wasn't your fault."

"Ah just wasn't fast enou- what?"

"I said it wasn't your fault Overalls." Nick repeated, louder in case he didn't hear.

"Ah-" Ellis stared at Nick in disbelief.

Nick almost laughed but settled for a grin. "You're wondering why I'm not bein an ass right now." He said the mechanics thoughts out loud.

Ellis nodded numbly.

"Because it wasn't. your. fault." Nick laid Rochelle's hand over her bloodied and crushed chest and stood up, ripping the blanket off the bed and bringing it over to her body.

Ellis stood as well and grabbed the other side and brought it over her body with Nick. "If I had just been fast enough…" Ellis mumbled, standing up and looked down at the dark grey blanket that now covered her.

"She was already badly beaten. She had made ME use it… if she even fell down the stairs she would have been in just the same condition." Nick explained. "Even if you had shot it the first time she was slammed she wouldn't have made it."

Ellis stared at Nick for a moment before nodding his understanding. "Don't beat yourself up over it." Nick clapped him on the back. Ellis just nodded again, looking away.

Nick repackaged the unused medkit and put it on his back. "It looks like it's just you and me kid. And I'm telling you right now. I am not leaving you." Nick was determined to keep at least ONE of his friends with him, even if it cost him his own life… he was going to stick by this young man.

Ellis looked back at him and stared… again. _It's just one stare after another…. _Nick mused. Ellis smiled after a moment and nodded. "Ah ain't gonna leave ya either." Ellis said in his usual twang.

"Good to know." Nick smirked and handed him the pistol that he had used to kill the Charger. "What were those official instructions of yours?"

Ellis smirked before smiling genuinly, "Kill all sonsofbitches." Ellis told him.

"Right. Let's go." Nick said smiling, inside he was ready to cry, but this kid didn't need to see him cry. He needed to know that they could move on, that they had each other, that they could survive.

And they weren't going to EVER leave each other.

**LEFT4DEAD**

_Dang, I'll be honest. I hadn't planned on killing Rochelle. HONESTLY I had planned on having a HAPPY ending. With Ellis alive, Rochelle and Nick too. They were GOING to just call the boat back after a while and leave safely… but… it seemed like it would be better this way… _

_Was I right?_

_Anyway please review._


End file.
